Govt decision on DTH is a few weeks away

The government is expected to take a decision on direct-to-home television and on the next stages of uplinking within eight to ten weeks.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan told the press in New Delhi today that decisions on these subjects and on the regulation of cable operators cannot wait till the enactment of the Broadcast Bill that is still at a discussion stage.

In fact, the minister said, the bill has not even been drafted yet. Mahajan said that the government would take a decision before January 10 about re-promulgation of the Prasar Bharati Ordinance of August 29 that had revived the original Prasar Bharati Act of 1990.

He denied that the government is deliberately letting the ordinance lapse. He said the revival of the original bill is necessary because the running of an organisation like Prasar Bharati cannot be left to the whims and fancies of one person. It would be necessary to bring back the 22-member Parliamentary committee and the broadcasting council.

Mahajan said Prasar Bharati had the largest coverage and therefore it had to be given freedom to work without any pressures.

The minister said he has taken very seriously the reflections of the parliamentary standing committee and others that many low-power transmitters and other installations of Prasar Bharati are rotting away because of shortage of manpower.

He said it might take few months to solve this problem.

Asked about proposals received for foreign investment in the electronic media, he said there is no such policy at present and decisions are being taken on case by case.